Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Monday described the situation in Gaza as a “genocide,” making her the first Republican member of Congress to use the term to describe the Israeli assault on the Palestinian territory.
Greene made the comments in response to the news that the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC has dropped Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) from its list of pro-Israel candidates after he said Palestinians in Gaza should “starve away” amid news of rising malnutrition deaths due to the Israeli siege. AIPAC later downplayed Fine‘s removal from the list, saying they would consider his potential endorsement later in the election cycle.
“I can only imagine how Florida’s 6th district feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children,” Greene wrote on X.
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” she added.
The Georgia congresswoman also said that a Jewish US representative “calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful” and “will actually cause more antisemitism.”
By labeling Israel’s action in Gaza as genocide, Greene joins a short list of members of Congress who have used the term to describe the mass killing, displacement, and starvation of Gaza’s civilian population.
According to Zeteo, the only other members of Congress to use the term are nine House Democrats: Rashida Tlaib (MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Summer Lee (PA), Al Green (TX), Delia Ramirez (IL), Bonne Watson Coleman (NJ), and John Garamendi (CA).
Greene recently led an amendment to cut $500 million in military aid to Israel from the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which only received support from five other House representatives: Green, Omar, Lee, Tlaib, and Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has also been critical of Israel’s actions and wants the US to end all military aid to Israel but hasn’t publicly called its assault on Gaza a genocide.
Greene’s comments came after two leading Israeli human rights organizations released reports concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a conclusion reached by many international rights groups and genocide scholars.
